4 minute read
Nicola Benedetti
Meet the ISMs’ Meet the ISMs’ Distinguished Distinguished Musician Award Musician Award winner, Nicola winner, Nicola Benedetti Benedetti
There must be a special ingredient in the atmosphere of Ayrshire that nurtures creative talent. In the second half of the 20th century the Scottish county has produced two of the world’s leading musicians: composer Sir James MacMillan and violinist Nicola Benedetti CBE. The two are frequent collaborators; they share a passion for music education and Benedetti is Patron of MacMillan’s festival, the Cumnock Tryst, set up in his home town in 2013.
Benedetti comes from Irvine, 30 miles further north; when I saw her give a chamber concert at the Tryst a few years ago one side of the church was full of enthusiastic Benedetti is proud of that side of her heritage too and says her main skill in the kitchen is making a good
She will join the Scottish Chamber Orchestra this autumn to premiere MacMillan’s second violin concerto in Perth, piece is a tribute to their long musical relationship, and aims to showcase Benedetti’s renowned technical ability and beautiful sound.
The last time Music Journal featured Benedetti, in May 2019, she had recently set up the Benedetti Foundation to support her education work, had launched her ‘With Nicky’ video tutorials and was preparing to run in-person brought the in-person Benedetti Sessions to a halt, but they were adapted into virtual sessions enabling the violinist to reach far more young people and invite guest musicians from around the world to join her for additional features such as panel discussions.
teachers, adult learners, conservatoire students and noninstrumentalists. Live sectionals for around 1,700 string players culminated in a virtual concert produced using hundreds of video submissions. On a smaller scale, the Foundation also offered After Benedetti told The Strad magazine that
‘Certainly it’s this experience had really opened possible to do a her eyes to the possibilities of online coaching. Certainly it’s possible to do lot more through a lot more through a screen than a screen than I I ever imagined.’ ever imagined.’ In-person Benedetti Sessions have now returned, with [at the time of going to print] workshops scheduled for
But the development of her Foundation has not been the only focus of Benedetti’s attention – far from it. In March this year Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), taking over from Fergus Linehan on 1 October. Marsalis – though not without a few teething had to explain to him that she is used to working on new pieces for weeks before she can even attempt to play them in tempo.
Chair of the EIF Board, commented that The festival’s administrative structure is being refreshed with additional appointments to new or enhanced directorial roles that will support Benedetti’s overall leadership and enable her to continue not just inspiring children, students and their teachers through her Foundation activities, but performing internationally. The discipline of practising, rehearsing and performing Asked how much of her success is down to natural talent and how much to hard work, she has said that while a certain amount of natural talent, sensitivity to music and an enthusiasm for sharing it with others are all essential for any successful performer, there is no substitute for the hours of hard work every single day. The challenges she has set herself over the past three years have included honing her set up the Benedetti Baroque Orchestra of period-instrument specialists in December strings. Last summer they gave eight intimate, informal concerts of the Vivaldi violin concertos and Geminiani Concerto Grosso ‘La Folia’ featured on the album, in the faded grandeur of the Grand Hall in livestreamed premiere with the London challenging, 40-minute long concerto, begun as an optimistic vision of hopefulness but extended and completed during the pandemic, which turned it into ‘a concerto of the COVID era’, according to Rebecca Franks Times review, composer, and Benedetti are both former winners of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. It was evident from her winning Edinburgh’s Usher Hall , aged just 16, that Nicola Benedetti she has demonstrated that she also has determination, vision and a generous spirit that prompts her to invest hours of time and skill in education and advocacy. A worthy winner indeed Musician Award for 2021.
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But Benedetti is also passionate about new music. In 2015 she premiered a concerto written for her by the jazz trumpeter Wynton nicolabenedetti.co.uk benedettifoundation.org
she ‘raced around the violin as if fuelled by a dozen espressos and found exquisite beauty when her line spun out into wordless song’.
Rebecca Franks in her five-star Times review
Markus Werner
